A
Amazing Iceman
I've been waiting a long time to install Vista. Now that I've been so close
to buy it and install it, I've been discovering all kinds of oddities. I
have also been looking for a new laptop, but unless it's the very high-tech
laptops, a lot of new models come with downgraded video-cards.
It actually feels like going back to the Stone Age of computing. Please tell
me I'm wrong. Here are just a few points:
- Most new notebooks come now with video cards with UMA ( Shared Video
Memory ). Just like way back in the DOS days, the computer's RAM is shared
with the video card. I was reading a disclaimer on the HP website that said
not to allocate too much memory for video and to keep the resolution low;
otherwise performance loss would occur.
I saw a really nice HP notebook at SAM's club, with a very high Windows
Experience score on all their functions, except for video ( with UMA, of
course), which dropped the final score to 3.1 (it also said that it would't
give a good enough experience for Aero. And this is a NEW model notebook!!!
- Also, a few years ago, Winmodems were considered a bad choice.
Now suddenly, Winmodems are back. Even audio cards are now more
software-oriented
than they used to be. I remember spending a ton of money on my Sound
Blaster Platinum
just because of its great hardware implentation.
- The implementation of DRM has crippled hardware. My ASUS P5AD2-E has HD
Audio, Dolby Digital, S/PDIF i/o, and more. Vista upgrade advisor says that
HD Audio is not supported. Also, when playing HD protected content, audio
and video output would be degraded to a much lower resolution. And it is
uncertain if I will be able to watch any movies on my HP projector using the
DVI-D port. I'm not sure if it supports the DRM technology Vista uses, so
that could be the end of watching movies off my PC with High Quality audio
and video. That would definitely be a waste. But I do want to watch movies
and listen to audio
with the best possible quality using my PC.
- OpenType fonts no longer work.
- There's an unresolved issue related to copying files: very slow
performance, even before the actual copy takes place (during calculating
time required...)
Vista's integration of DRM is killing this new Windows OS. Making the OS
slower and
requiring us to spend more money in DRM-compliant hardware (Monitors, TVs,
Projectors, Audio, etc.).
This has to stop. The industry needs to understand that no matter how much
they try to protect their movies,
if a hacker wants to copy them, he will get the job done faster and cheaper
than it costed them to implement
their copy-protection. At this point, it's cheaper (or about the same price)
to buy a BlueRay movie rather than
making a copy of it to a BlueRay blank disc (if such is currently
available). Same goes for HD-DVD.
DRM doesn't really make sense. And the good thing is that some people in the
industry are getting to understand this:
http://www.macrumors.com/2007/04/02/emi-apple-press-conference-coverage/
http://www.macrumors.com/2007/04/02/behind-the-apple-emi-deal/
There are other issues and you are welcome to comment about them. I'm just
looking for advise.
Right now, I'm staying with XP and carefully considering to switch to MAC
OSX as it seem like a better
alternative; but I would prefer to stay with Windows.
The only problem is that if Microsoft doesn't do something good about Vista
and eventually decide to drop support
for Windows XP, I would have no choice left.
Linux is another option, but I use Adobe Software and I need good
performance and support.
Some people I know have purchased Vista, and had a ton of problems with it;
one of them is planning to return his Vista Ultima to Circuit City and
re-installing XP Pro (would they take it back??? I'm not too sure about
that). His PC wouldn't run Vista nicely (of course he had no clue it
requires high-end hardware to actually run in a way it won't drive you
insane). His PC's specs were all above minimal specs as outlined by
Microsoft.
I feel very disappointed right now. Such a long wait for nothing, it seems.
I hope I'm just wrong. I have good the hardware that would run in Vista; it
would be
a waste to let Vista cripple it. I feel bad for all those people who bought
those really good Sound Blaster cards (like I did at some point).
A Google search returned a lot of comments regarding the fact that those
high-end
cards may never be supported (maybe just basic functionality drivers; all
the high-end
features such as S/PDIF high bit rate sampling, etc. would be crippled).
-The Amazing Iceman
to buy it and install it, I've been discovering all kinds of oddities. I
have also been looking for a new laptop, but unless it's the very high-tech
laptops, a lot of new models come with downgraded video-cards.
It actually feels like going back to the Stone Age of computing. Please tell
me I'm wrong. Here are just a few points:
- Most new notebooks come now with video cards with UMA ( Shared Video
Memory ). Just like way back in the DOS days, the computer's RAM is shared
with the video card. I was reading a disclaimer on the HP website that said
not to allocate too much memory for video and to keep the resolution low;
otherwise performance loss would occur.
I saw a really nice HP notebook at SAM's club, with a very high Windows
Experience score on all their functions, except for video ( with UMA, of
course), which dropped the final score to 3.1 (it also said that it would't
give a good enough experience for Aero. And this is a NEW model notebook!!!
- Also, a few years ago, Winmodems were considered a bad choice.
Now suddenly, Winmodems are back. Even audio cards are now more
software-oriented
than they used to be. I remember spending a ton of money on my Sound
Blaster Platinum
just because of its great hardware implentation.
- The implementation of DRM has crippled hardware. My ASUS P5AD2-E has HD
Audio, Dolby Digital, S/PDIF i/o, and more. Vista upgrade advisor says that
HD Audio is not supported. Also, when playing HD protected content, audio
and video output would be degraded to a much lower resolution. And it is
uncertain if I will be able to watch any movies on my HP projector using the
DVI-D port. I'm not sure if it supports the DRM technology Vista uses, so
that could be the end of watching movies off my PC with High Quality audio
and video. That would definitely be a waste. But I do want to watch movies
and listen to audio
with the best possible quality using my PC.
- OpenType fonts no longer work.
- There's an unresolved issue related to copying files: very slow
performance, even before the actual copy takes place (during calculating
time required...)
Vista's integration of DRM is killing this new Windows OS. Making the OS
slower and
requiring us to spend more money in DRM-compliant hardware (Monitors, TVs,
Projectors, Audio, etc.).
This has to stop. The industry needs to understand that no matter how much
they try to protect their movies,
if a hacker wants to copy them, he will get the job done faster and cheaper
than it costed them to implement
their copy-protection. At this point, it's cheaper (or about the same price)
to buy a BlueRay movie rather than
making a copy of it to a BlueRay blank disc (if such is currently
available). Same goes for HD-DVD.
DRM doesn't really make sense. And the good thing is that some people in the
industry are getting to understand this:
http://www.macrumors.com/2007/04/02/emi-apple-press-conference-coverage/
http://www.macrumors.com/2007/04/02/behind-the-apple-emi-deal/
There are other issues and you are welcome to comment about them. I'm just
looking for advise.
Right now, I'm staying with XP and carefully considering to switch to MAC
OSX as it seem like a better
alternative; but I would prefer to stay with Windows.
The only problem is that if Microsoft doesn't do something good about Vista
and eventually decide to drop support
for Windows XP, I would have no choice left.
Linux is another option, but I use Adobe Software and I need good
performance and support.
Some people I know have purchased Vista, and had a ton of problems with it;
one of them is planning to return his Vista Ultima to Circuit City and
re-installing XP Pro (would they take it back??? I'm not too sure about
that). His PC wouldn't run Vista nicely (of course he had no clue it
requires high-end hardware to actually run in a way it won't drive you
insane). His PC's specs were all above minimal specs as outlined by
Microsoft.
I feel very disappointed right now. Such a long wait for nothing, it seems.
I hope I'm just wrong. I have good the hardware that would run in Vista; it
would be
a waste to let Vista cripple it. I feel bad for all those people who bought
those really good Sound Blaster cards (like I did at some point).
A Google search returned a lot of comments regarding the fact that those
high-end
cards may never be supported (maybe just basic functionality drivers; all
the high-end
features such as S/PDIF high bit rate sampling, etc. would be crippled).
-The Amazing Iceman
